Media Release: Stop Money Politics, Play a Fair Game

Submitted by yijian on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 13:10

Stop Money Politics, Play a Fair Game

4 May 2018, Media Statement

The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) notes with grave concern the continued abuse of power by members of the caretaker government during this election period where government resources, in this case the Immigration Department, are abused by the caretaker Deputy Prime Minister for partisan gain.

We refer to the event called “Gerak Mesra dan Jati Diri” organized by the Immigration Department – an event held this morning for the youth and residents of Bagan Datuk, Perak.

It is important to note that because caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi is running for the Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat, the event becomes partisan in nature and betrays the supposed neutrality of the caretaker government.

Moreover, we are aghast to learn that Head of Immigration Department Mustafar Ali spoke and supported this event. As the former Deputy Chief Commissioner (prevention) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Mustafar Ali should have known that his involvement in this event runs contrary to the spirit and purpose of the law.

Instead of conducting himself in a professional and dignified manner, he has become complicit in this indefensible display of abuse of power.

It bears reminding that the MACC is established and empowered under the anti-corruption law to combat corrupt practices and abuse of power.

We would like to reiterate our call for all relevant public institutions, in particular the MACC, to act independently to combat corrupt practices at elections in order to uphold electoral fairness and integrity.

It has also been reported that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak announced on 27 April 2018 that all 60,000 DRB-Hicom Sdn Bhd workers would receive a special incentive of RM500 each. Not only is RM30million spent for this special incentive a violation of the caretaker government’s duty, it also amounts to bribery under the Election Offences Act 1954.

In light of this, the MACC should immediately take action to stop both the federal and state caretaker governments from abusing government resources which include official positions, government machinery, or funds for partisan gain during the electoral period.